Showing posts with label fern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fern. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 8, 2026

cage match

Ack!  I am behind schedule on everything right now, but wanted to make an effort to put out something this week.  

April Fools!  This pizza...


...is actually a big cookie, with frosting "sauce" (I ran out of red food coloring so it wasn't super convincing) and frozen/grated white chocolate for the cheese.  It was delicious!

Todd was also surprised by Nicolas Cage in our car back-up camera...


...courtesy of a small photo taped in front of the lens.  :)

Easter!  I made a really tasty carrot cake with a really easy frosting method.  Squiggles I can do.


Spring ephemerals!  They are going crazy right now.  Todd and I  have been so busy that I'm not even sure we'll get in our spring ephemeral hike this year, but I've seen so many on our regular trails...

yellow trout lily

virginia bluebells

celadine poppy

dwarf larkspur

dutchmans breeches

prairie trillium

And when the mayapples get tall...


Morels come out!


I gathered some and fried them up for supper this week.

Oh, redbuds are here and almost gone!


Ferns...



Trees...

spicebush 

norway maple

Bushes...

burning bush

Everywhere we go...


...we see life returning to the forest.  And some unwanted life, despite our cold winter...


Ticks have been insane this spring.  Even though Pepita is on a flea/tick preventative, she has had multiple ticks, and brought multiple ticks into the house.  Todd has found two ticks crawling on his body this week too.  Now we rub her down every single time she returns from being outside, with extra checks during the day.  So far so good!


Everyone is enjoying the sunshine.



We're going to have a lot more of it soon...we're running full-tilt into late spring...somehow!  Lots to do before the spring ends.  More soon!

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

green machine

 Another huge temperature fluctuation...53 degrees in one night!

This Thursday, it's supposed to go from 85 (day) to 27 (the next night).  Pretty wild.  But I'm loving all the green that's coming back with these warmer days!

Golden Ragwort

From a waking red maple

see the tiny flowers?

American elderberry

bronze fern

common cinquefoil

cutleaf toothwort...the first spring ephemeral!!!

cranefly orchid

a 12-spotted pink lady beetle on birds-eye speedwell

We had some freak snow...again...


...but it stopped after an hour or two and had completely melted by the afternoon.  

We went hiking at one of our favorite places, Bean Blossom Bottoms.  Not a lot of green yet...



...but still plenty to see, including emerging greens!





Finally some exercise for this chonk!


Looking forward to April and a real explosion of color!

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

fair weather and feathers

 We've been hard at work outside!



So many spring things in bloom or on the cusp...

jacob's ladder

peony

anemones

euphorbia

lilacs

ferns, lily of the valley

Lots of creatures out and about, too!

mayfly

tan slug

may beetle

net-winged beetle

eastern tiger swallowtail

teeny tiny feathers!!

And more beauty on our walks...

multiflora rose

purple phacelia

ferns

mayapples

wolf's milk fungus

It's a really nice time of year.



Have a great week!